Lighting technology continues to evolve providing enhanced functionality and efficiency for end users. For example, digital lighting technologies, i.e. illumination based on semiconductor light sources, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs), offer a viable alternative to traditional fluorescent, HID, and incandescent lamps. Functional advantages and benefits of LEDs include high energy conversion and optical efficiency, durability, lower operating costs, and many others. Recent advances in LED technology have provided efficient and robust full-spectrum lighting sources that enable a variety of lighting effects in many applications. Some of the lighting fixtures embodying these LED-based sources feature a lighting module, including one or more LEDs capable of producing different colors, e.g. red, green, and blue, as well as a processor for independently controlling the output of the LEDs in order to generate a variety of colors and color-changing lighting effects, for example, as discussed in detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,016,038 and 6,211,626, incorporated herein by reference.
Commonly, one or more light sources may be driven by a lighting driver which may convert input power, for example from AC Mains, into an appropriate form for use by the particular light source, and supply the converted power to the light source(s). For example, an LED driver may receive AC Mains power, convert or format the power to an appropriate form for use by one or more LEDs, and supply the converted power to drive one or more LED-based lighting units.
To provide enhanced performance and flexibility, different lighting devices (e.g., LED drivers) may operate with one or more different configurations and/or operating parameters. Here, the term “configuration” refers to an operating mode of a lighting device. For example, LED drivers may be configured to operate with different dimming interfaces in order to dim the light source(s) which they drive. In particular, one LED driver may be configured to operate with a DALI interface, another LED driver may be configured to operate with an analog 0-10V dimming signal, still another may operate with phase-cut AC dimming, and yet another LED driver may be configured to operate with a Digital MultipleX (DMX) interface, etc. Meanwhile, the term “operating parameter” refers to a value or setting of an operational variable of the lighting device. For example, an LED driver may be configured to stop supplying current to drive an LED load if the temperature of the LED load exceeds a threshold value. This threshold value is an operating parameter of the LED driver, and may change from LED driver to LED driver, depending on a particular installation or target application for the LED driver. A variety of other configuration settings and operating parameters may change from one LED driver to another.
However, it is undesirable for a manufacturer to manufacture a large number of different lighting devices just to provide a large number of different configurations and different operating parameters—especially if large portions of the lighting devices are the same as each other. It is also undesirable for a manufacturer, vendor, and/or end user to have to maintain in inventory a large number of different lighting devices, each having its own specific configuration and/or its own specific operating parameters.
Accordingly, a manufacturer may manufacture a programmable lighting device (e.g., a programmable LED driver) which includes a programming interface or connector by means of which the device may be programmed with different configuration settings and/or with different operating parameters. In that way, a manufacturer may design and manufacture one generic lighting device for a large number of different applications or target installations, and then program each device to tailor it for its particular target application or installation. A programmable lighting device may be programmed by the manufacturer, the vendor, or the end user. For example, the manufacturer may maintain the generic programmable lighting devices in stock, and then program the devices with particular configuration setting(s) and/or operating parameter(s) to fill specific orders, prior to shipment. Also, an end user may purchase and stock one generic programmable LED driver model, and then program each device at the time of installation with the appropriate configuration setting(s) and/or operating parameter(s) for its particular application or target installation. Additionally, even after a programmable lighting device has been programmed and installed, it may be reprogrammed with one or more new operating parameters and/or reconfigured with one or more new or changed configuration settings.
However, existing methods of programming programmable lighting devices are cumbersome and relatively time-consuming. Each programmable lighting device is connected to a power supply (e.g., AC Mains) during its programming operation. Typically a connector on the device is connected to a programming device or terminal (e.g., through a matching cable). Then the configuration setting(s) and/or operating parameter(s) are transferred from the programming device or terminal to the programmable lighting device via the connector, after which the power may be removed from the programmable lighting device. Typically, the programming interface for the programmable lighting device may be an RS-232 or DALI interface. In some cases, wireless interfaces such WIFi or Zigbee may be employed, but their deployment is limited due to the high cost of implementation. Furthermore, with any of these wired or wireless interfaces, the programmable lighting device still must be supplied power, for example by plugging it into an AC outlet, during the programming operation.
When a large number of programmable lighting devices are to be programmed with a wired programming interface, either a corresponding number of connections/cables must be provided for programming the devices in parallel, or else the programmable lighting devices must be programmed in series, extending the time required for the programming operation. This programming operation may be especially burdensome for an end user, for example an end user which performs a commissioning process for a large number of lighting devices which must each be programmed. Often such an end user may have only one or a few programming device(s) or terminal(s) and corresponding connection(s) or cable(s) for programming a large number of devices, such that the programming is performed in a serial fashion. This repetitive serial individual programming operation is especially inefficient when several programmable lighting devices are all to be programmed with the same configuration settings or operating parameters.
Thus, there is a need in the art to provide a programmable lighting device, for example an LED driver, which can be easily programmed to apply one or more configuration settings and/or operating parameters thereto. There is further a need to provide an arrangement whereby several programmable lighting devices may be programmed with the same configuration settings or operating parameters at the same time.